“You’re doing a fine job, but YOU’RE FIRED!”

by Stefan VarnerDemocratic LGBT Committee Chairperson

Earlier in the week President Donald Trump issued one of his ‘official tweets’ that thousands of transgender service members would be banned from their jobs, and he did so under the premise that this was due to conversations with Generals and other military professionals. And then Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders doubled down insisting that this was a “military decision, about military readiness, unit cohesion, nothing more.”

So let’s just cut to the chase. The decision clearly appears to be blatant political pandering to the anti-LGBT crowd, and not “militarily-justified” as alleged. Remember, Trump said during the campaign that he would “fight for” LGBT citizens.

The question now is: How will the U.S. Congress and Senate respond to the ostracization of targeted service personnel who are otherwise doing their job? The singling out of a [somewhat] unpopular minority, tax-paying, law-abiding citizens of the United States of America, in order to gain political favor with policy makers who threaten to withhold passage of border wall funding should the President not acquiesce to their Social Control agenda? Time will tell.

*And why are we paying for the wall in the first place? Sorry, I digress.

But the public has moved along. “Can they do the job?” is the only question that should be asked. We should be hiring the best qualified people without regard to the apprehensions of others. That is their problem. General Mattis has already testified that there have been no problems with LGBT people serving in the military – no problems. The American people overwhelmingly believe that all citizens, whether in the military or in the public arena, deserve to be evaluated and treated fairly and on the basis of their performance, not demeaned over the whims of political, religious or any other non-performance related basis. This goes for the President too. Americans believe in Equality. It’s in our Constitution. Democrats support Equality and the Constitution; ALL of it.

This Trump-created Trans-fiasco falls right in line with his lifelong pattern of being willing to discard the basic human interests of others, in this case some of the most marginalized of any U.S. citizens, in support of self-promotion. And some thought that the developer/reality show host would suddenly become benevolent toward others; toward them. *Shakes head*

True to form, he employs concrete workers to build his hotels and then refuses to pay them for the purpose of his own self-enrichment. He erroneously bans travel from a handful of countries, from whence no acts of terrorism have come to U.S. shores, in order to manufacture political support. And he gives the green light to oil exploration off of the South Carolina coast, completely disregarding the likely economic effects and the loss of jobs to hard working South Carolinians, let alone the ecological and wildlife damage, all in pursuit of “redistributing wealth” [remember that catch phrase?] to his already-rich friends. Have we no choice in this?

Trump said that the travel ban was to defend us against terrorism. This was false. He said that the Transgender Ban was in response to consultations with his Generals. This was false. He said that he was a friend to the LGBT community. False, false, false. The Transgender Ban is just one more misstep in a series of “Screw everybody but ME!” behaviors.

And Trump is even willing to sign “Healthcare” legislation, of any kind it seems, “redistributing the wealth” again, from the sick and often poor to the already-rich, in the pursuit of self-promotion. Can South Carolinians pay even more for our healthcare?

The bottom line is that Donald Trump and public servants like him, hold the value that it is perfectly acceptable to discard the well-being of others, of vulnerable citizens, in pursuit of self-gratification. They do not work in our best interests. Transgender Service Members, who are defending our country with honor, are just another expendable pawn in his rich-man’s game.

And furthermore, real men don’t bully weaker people. People do so because they are weak.

The Democratic Party stands for the Equal Treatment of all citizens, including Transgender Military Service Members, and private citizens. Nothing less will suffice.